Watches, Warnings & Advisories for Sunflower Co.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Operating Notes, 31 DEC 2011

On the Air:
The radio was quiet for a week or so as I battled sinus issues.  It's not easy to have QSO's when you've got little or no voice!  By Christmas I was feeling better, and logged the following over the holidays:
Dec 23 - 5 QSOs, all PSK-31, one on 10 meters, four on 20 meters
Dec 27 - 15 QSOs, mixed PSK-31, Hellschreiber, SSB on 80, 20, and 17 meters
Dec 28 - 7 QSO's, one PSK-31 on 40 meters, and six JT65 on 20 and 40 meters.  A special hat-tip to fellow blogger KD0BIK in Colorado, who's now in the log as my third JT65 contact
Dec 29 - 19 QSO's sizteen JT65, two PSK on 20 and 40 meters, and one FM 2 meter contact.

National & Regional
The Mississippi QSO Party has been scheduled for February 25, 2011.  Rules are available at the Mississippi ARRL Section website, or directly at this link.

Local
The Delta A.R.E.S. Simplex Net will re-convene on January 1, 2012, after we skipped the Christmas holiday.  If you're in the Mississippi Delta, join us on Sunday nights, 8:00pm Central Time, on 147.420 MHz, no tone needed.

The Mississippi ARRL Section will ring in the new year with a special-called Mississippi Section Phone Net, starting at 11:00pm (CST) on December 31, 2011, 3862 kHz.  Drop by for a visit if you're on the air.

Around the Station:
I started using the JT65-HF operating mode this month, mainly out of curiosity.  It's a slow mode, requiring about 6 to 7 minutes to complete a simple QSO of nothing more than signal reports.  What makes JT65 interesting though, is that it doesn't require high power, and is very sensitive to weak signals, even signals below human hearing range.  On my first night of operation with JT65, my signals were received in Russia, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, England, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Curacao, and all across the United States on 40 and 20 meters, using 20 watts or less. (Country listing information retrieved from www.pskreporter.info.)  The longest-distance reception report came from RN6AM in Krasnodar, Russia, 6168 miles away.  I was transmitting 20 watts, which calculates to 308 miles-per-watt.

I received my ARRL Volunteer Examiner and W5YI Volunteer Examiner certification this month.

QSL Cards Received
W4DDK

QSL Cards Going Out
W1WAB - interesting story on this contact.  William worked in the Hancock County (MS) Emergency Operations Center in the week or so after Hurricane Katrina.  I was also there during that time, working for the State of Mississippi.  I'm sure we crossed paths in the hall or cafeteria, but there were literally dozens of people there at that time.  I met William on 20 meters, working PSK on December 23, where we exchanged brief Katrina stories.  He's got information about his deployment with other Florida HAMs on www.sccarc.info/katrina.html.
WA8RPK
KD8JSP
KD2AIP
KD0NZY
KQ0J
AB9QU
W2FBS
K2CDP
AK4AT
KD0BIK - producer of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast, I highly recommend it.
K0DSP
W2RON
NW5P

Until 2012....have a Happy (and safe) New Year!

73 de K5JAW

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